The latest news and insights about Local Inventory and Local SEO from the expert team at NearSt.
When lockdown restrictions came into effect in March, local hardware shop Snape & Sons made the tough decision to close their doors to in-store customers. The team had only a limited number of their products online, and rapidly found themselves overwhelmed with calls enquiring about what they had in stock. The shop had to adapt quickly and turn to helpful technology solutions to continue trading.
Established over 50 years ago, Douglas Yeadon pride themselves on being a trusted, dependable, family-owned business whose friendly staff are always there to give a helping hand. Stocking everything from decorating, DIY, to pet care, they really do live by their motto “You name it, we stock it”.
If you run a high street shop, then you know how customer demand can change throughout the year: from products which are only popular during the summer months to the usual Christmas customer surge.
A third-generation business in the coastal village of Sutton on Sea, the team at Watson’s Home Hardware is well versed in what it takes to succeed in retail. After joining Home Hardware (a hardware store co-operative) in the 1990s, they have expanded to two locations; one focused on DIY and Gardening (featured in this case study), the other on housewares across the street.
On April 7th we published an article about the 235% traffic growth to our shop pages between February and March, as social-distancing measures began to impact retailers. We wanted to share how things have evolved since then, and what it means for shopkeepers looking to tap into new shopper behaviours.
Over the past few weeks retail has gone through a massive change, as shops and their customers adapt to life under lockdown. While Google’s aggregated location data shows a 46% decline in footfall to UK grocers and pharmacies, people still want to shop in their local stores. But they are having to find new ways to do it.
While people are self-isolating many shops are making changes to keep running business ‘as usual’. It’s a rapidly changing situation for shops and communication with your customers plays an important role.
The current outbreak is affecting all walks of life, and especially our high streets. While people remain indoors, independent retailers are moving fast to ensure their goods and services are still available to their customers.